Jordan re-arrests al-Maqdisit

News reports in Amman said that the Jordanian security forces re-arrested one of the main ideological theorists of the Jihad al-Salafeyah trend, Asem Taher al-Barqawi, known as Sheikh Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi.

The Jordanian authorities released al-Maqdisi last week and he was found not guilty by the state security court six months ago of accusations addressed to him.

Al-Maqdisi was arrested with the leader of al-Qaida organization in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in 1994 and the two men were released six years ago after King Abdullah assumed power in the kingdom.

Al-Maqidisi's arrest came during an interview he was giving to al-Jazeera in which he talked about al-Salafeyah al-Jihadeyah trend. In his first TV appearance al-Maqdisi expressed his reservations over the attack operations in Iraq targeting civilians and those targeting the Shiite.

The news reports added the Jordanian authorities had permitted al-Maqdisi to meet with TV channels, and he was permitted to be interviewed by journalists and two Jordanian dailies published interviews with him.

The director of the Islamic political thinking institute in London, Azzam al-Tamimi, expressed his regret over the detention on the ground that al-Maqdisi ideas are considered moderate and that his attitude is described as moderate.